Arc en Ciel
by Yamadori
Summary: Blue Dragon Game. Birthday present for SnivyGirl07/Inita. For each color, something to symbolize it. For each symbol, a moment in time. And for each moment, a feeling held in the heart... Jiro x Kluke


**To all: Hi, guys! :) Wow, I actually got this up on time! :D Just barely, mind you. I have to be honest – some parts of this made me almost tear my hair out. But it worked out in the end, so… XD Anyway. Title is French for "rainbow". This is from another livejournal community – this one called "writing rainbow" – and uses the column "Symbols". The eighth choice was a writer's choice. ****Important:**** Remember that the ages in my fan fiction, **_**Blue Dragon Beyond**_**, are the ages I've used for the Blue Dragon game (example: in the first game, Shu would be 12; Jiro and Kluke would be 14). I don't have a whole lot of time, though, so let me cut to the chase and leave a note for a certain someone.**

**To Inita: Well, I'm getting this out rather late in the day, but hopefully you'll still be able to read it. :) There are probably some mistakes, since I only had time to proofread it once, so let me know if I missed anything and I'll fix it up as soon as I can. :) I tried to include some of what you mentioned, but I don't know how well I did… I was hard pressed to come up with Jiro x Kluke material without taking anything from **_**Beyond**_** or **_**Hoshi to Tsuki**_**. *sweatdrops* Also, some Trio friendship/romance sneaked its way into the fic without my permission (XD), so I hope you don't mind too much… All in all, I think the end result is worth it. :) Hope you enjoy it, Inita! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon game series. If I did, the last two games would've had more Jiro x Kluke. :P**

_**Red - Heart**_

~.~.~.

"Kluke..." She watches as Jiro fidgets nervously on the edge of the bed. "Y-you don't need to give me a checkup. I'm fine. D-don't worry about it, really-"

"You've had mild but repeated incidents of arrhythmias since you were three," she turns back to her bag, fishes through it until she comes up with her (Mom's-Kluke's now-Mom's) stethoscope, "so, as a matter of fact, being both your physician and your friend, I am allowed a fair degree of paranoia concerning your health."

"I still don't think you should worry so much about- hey," Jiro breaks off, almost sounding affronted. "How did you know how long I've had this for?"

"It's all over your file." _Speaking of which-_ Kluke reaches over, flips through a few pages. It hurts, seeing her father's notes - hurts to look at the careful and precise handwriting. Just like hers. Everyone had always complimented her on how nice and neat her writing was, and how it looked just like her dad's. She had always taken pride in all of the praise, happy to share something with Dad. Now, it's just another thing to add to her grief. Despite this, Kluke gives herself a mental shake. She can blubber and come apart after she's sure Jiro is okay. "Dad kept extensive notes on all of the villagers. He even has some from when Naomi was in her late teens, and that must have been around when he and Mom were just starting out as doctors." She winces; she _really_ didn't need to think about Shu's mom while she's looking at her father's writing. _Ow. Too much grief at a time._ Kluke wishes she could just break down and sob, but is too ashamed to do it in front of Jiro.

_Hm?_ She's snapped from her melancholy musings as she notices something for the first time about her father's notes on Jiro's diagnosis. The fact is this: there _is_ no true diagnosis. He's shown signs of multiple varieties of arrhythmias throughout his childhood, and has had different symptoms he shouldn't even be having for some of them. She reads through to the end, but her father was unable to come to a solid conclusion. However, there is a notation at the side of the page, next to the header for Jiro's twelfth year: _If the incidents persist into his teenage years, we should look into seeking better medicine and equipment in Jibral. Also, perhaps a look at the Castle Town's library would shed some light on what exactly it is young Jiro has._

Kluke feels cold all over.

"Jiro..." She swallows, forces her voice to stay steady. "You're turning fourteen in November. You shouldn't still be having this." There _are_ a few cases where it lasts into adulthood... But most of the time, when it starts during childhood - especially that young - it goes away once the person is a teenager.

"I know." Jiro smiles at her sheepishly. "But don't let it bother you. It's not that big of a deal. It doesn't even hurt sometimes. I think the times when it's painful aren't as often as they used to be, too."

Kluke stares at the paper again, as if she's staring at the Ancient language and hoping that if she just looks at it long enough, it will start to make sense. However, no answer is forthcoming. Jiro's heart is a puzzle that she just can't figure out. (She won't realize until much later that this has a double meaning.) With a sigh, she closes the folder, loops the stethoscope around her neck, and turns back towards Jiro with her arms akimbo. "Alright, Jiro. Take off your shirt."

"_What_?"

Kluke blinks at him. Secretly, she's always found it rather impressive someone so pale can blush _that_ red. Still, it doesn't really explain why he's blushing right now. There's an explanation here, she thinks, but it eludes her. Instead of trying to decipher it, she repeats herself, "Take off your shirt. You _have_ been checked by both of my parents before, so I would guess that you know what that entails. Or am I wrong?" She arches an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"I- I- But- I- B-but, I-" He makes a choked noise in the back of his throat, and then (sort of) ceases his sputtering. "A- a-alright."

She waits patiently (or tries to; after reading all that disconcerting information about Jiro's condition, she's anxious to examine him) as Jiro sheds his tunic. He hesitates at his sweater, looks at her as if he's about to ask a question, and then shakes his head. In one motion, he pulls the top over his head.

As she approaches him from behind, Kluke is struck by how thin he is. He's certainly not bony, but his clothes have hidden at least a quarter of the litheness of his frame. She finds herself unconsciously staring at the line of his spine, and the visible bones of his shoulder blades. Without meaning to, she ends up tracing the jutting bone on the left.

"K-Kluke?" Her name escapes from him as a yelp.

_Oh, God, how do I explain that?_ How is she supposed to tell him what just happened? _She_ doesn't even know what just happened! "Uh," _think, Kluke, think, think, THINK,_ "you, uh... should eat more. You're... too thin." _Oh. Yes. What a wonderful save. Maybe next, I can even trying doing my job. What a novel idea! You're on a role today, Kluke!_

His voice sounds oddly constricted. "...Oh. Um. Right. I'll... do that."

Kluke shakes her head at her own foolishness. _Stop wasting time and just _do_ it already!_ She puts in the earpieces, and then presses the metal disc of the instrument against his back-

Jiro lets out a noise that sounds suspiciously like a squeak.

"Jiro..." Kluke feels herself pale. "Your heart is racing..."

"W-well, of course it is!" She's so caught up in nightmare scenarios of Jiro (_her Jiro, not her Jiro_) being besieged by some horrific heart illness - all (current) paranoia courtesy of the unsolved riddle of her dad's notes - that Jiro's words basically shock her out of her mind. What follows stuns her even more, "I'm embarrassed!"

"... Embarrassed?" Something as simple as embarrassment is so far from her mind right now that she's having trouble keeping up with him.

"W-well, yeah, I mean," he rubs his bare arms awkwardly, "I- I'm not even wearing a shirt. W... Wouldn't you be embarrassed if _you_ weren't wearing a shirt- Ah-! I mean-! Oh! Wait-! Ack...! Um... N-never mind..." She's only half-listening to what he's saying - his heart rate picks up even _more_, and Kluke might just faint dead away from anxiety alone.

Darn it! She should never have read those notes!

It takes approximately five minutes for Kluke to calm down. During which, Jiro is unable to calm down, which makes it difficult for her to do so. She manages, though, and eventually, she pulls away. "... Tell you what, Jiro. Let's do this another time, when you're not feeling so embarrassed. Maybe tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Kluke." Jiro's shoulders slump, and she has an odd - and perhaps slightly disturbing (to her, at least) - urge to trace the shoulder blade with her finger again. She represses it, but only just. "I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it, Jiro." She cuts off any and all apologies. There's no need - he didn't do anything wrong. Besides, this situation is more awkward than it has any right to be. "We'll just try again later. Next time, though, I'll let you keep your sweater on. I might have to go under it, though, if I can't hear anything."

After pulling on said sweater, Jiro twists around to smile at her, and Kluke wonders if she might need a checkup herself when her own heart beats a little strangely. "That'd be fine."

As she begins putting everything away, from behind her comes a tentative, "... Kluke?"

"Yes, Jiro?" She turns her head halfway, keeping one eye on her bag as she prepares to place the stethoscope inside it.

"I... just wanted you to know..." She hears Jiro audibly swallow. "... I think that you've been doing a really great job as the village doctor."

The stethoscope falls from her fingers and into the wrong compartment of the bag. She barely notices it. Something feels lodged in her throat, and her stomach does something weird and fluttery.

"It's just... You're still so young, to have so much responsibility... And yet, you never complain. You always help everyone, and you seem glad to do it. But even if you want to help everyone, it still must be such a heavy burden to bear. To do what you've done... takes a lot of heart, and incredible strength. You... are an amazing person, Kluke." Jiro stands from the bed, the mattress creaking from the sudden loss of his weight. "If it ever seems like it's too much, though... You can always come to me. I... I would do anything for you, Kluke. So, you never have to feel like you're alone. Because I'll always be there if you need me." Suddenly, he flushes deeply, seeming nervous. "Um. I- I just wanted you to know that."

"J... Jiro..." Kluke doesn't even know what to say. His words have left her nearly breathless.

"So." He shifts awkwardly. "Thank you for examining me. Even if it didn't go quite right. I'll stop by tomorrow, like you said." With a quick, almost fumbling bow, he rushes towards the room's exit before she even has a chance to say anything. "See you!"

It isn't until the front door shuts that Kluke realizes she never even said goodbye. Groaning at herself, she slumps against the wall. After a moment, Kluke folds her hands over her chest, feels her heart beating furiously under her fingertips. _Jiro..._ Just thinking his name makes the beats come faster, and she feels her face heat in what must certainly be a reddened blush.

_... What's happening to me?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Orange - Pumpkin<strong>_

~.~.~.

Kluke wishes she had a mirror. Or some water. Or any kind of reflection. Just _something_, so she could fiddle with her bow and make sure it's straight (completely ignoring the fact that she did this ten times before leaving the house). It's a nervous habit she's had for as long as she can remember.

Today is Talta Village's annual Harvest Festival (known to the children by the more affectionate title of "Pumpkin Day"). Talta's version of the festival is a little different than other places. The village has very sandy soil, which makes for difficulties when growing pumpkins - but with an expert gardener like Paruto, it's far from impossible. To summarize, if the vines yield many pumpkins, it's said that the next year will herald a good harvest, and everyone celebrates by using some of the orange squash for cooking and some for carving. Likewise, if there are only a few pumpkins, it's usually taken as a bad sign for the coming year's harvest, and so prayers and rice offerings are made to ward off any ills that may befall the following season's crops. In either case, the event always tends to be a happy and joyous affair.

While all of this is indirectly related to what's currently preoccupying her mind, it is not exactly what is worrying Kluke per se.

She lifts the little bag hanging from the left side of her waistcloth, holding it so that it's level with her eyes. She gives it a hard stare for no particular reason, before sighing and putting it back.

It's silly to be doing this. But what's even sillier is worrying so much about it after resolving to do this.

"_They're delicious. The best thing I've ever eaten!"_

Kluke shuts her eyes tight against the memory of last year's Pumpkin Day. She really doesn't understand why his words have had such an impact on her, but... Well. It's too late to really worry about it now, isn't it?

Resolved - or, rather, telling herself that she's resolved - Kluke scans the crowd of villagers with her eyes. In under a minute, she spots him sitting on one of the wooden benches with his parents. The adults are talking with Fushira; he sits slightly off to the side, observing everything around him.

Glad that his mother and father aren't paying complete attention - because having an audience when she does this would just do _wonders_ for her frazzled nerves - Kluke takes a deep breath and plunges ahead.

He looks up in surprise at her approach. "Kluke?"

"Here." She thrusts the small, brightly colored bag at him. He takes it and looks like he's about to ask her something, so she quickly begins speaking to keep him from saying anything. "You said that you liked those pumpkin cookies I made last year... So I made an extra batch just for you." She stares at her feet, suddenly finding them interesting. "I-I... I hope you like them." She whirls around, prepares to go-

A hand closes around her wrist, stopping her forward progress. Blushing, Kluke thinks of shaking her hand free and leaving anyway. But instead, she turns around slowly...

And Jiro is smiling that gentle smile of his. "They taste better when you have them with someone."

She lets herself be pulled over until she's sitting next to him on the bench. As Jiro starts calling for Shu - "You know how he is; he'll be furious if we eat them all and don't save him any." - Kluke can't help noticing that being next to him like this is... nice.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yellow - Sun<strong>_

~.~.~.

He slumps onto the rock with an exhausted, "Ugh." Jiro is utterly spent. He can't remember ever being so tired in his life. He wants to sleep for a very, very, _very_ long time. Sleeping for... oh, say, a year, would be absolutely _fantastic_ right now.

Even better: No more White Magic with sleep depravation/on an empty stomach. No more Double-Casts of Zephyrus. No more fully-charged Healus if he's going to get attacked six (and a half; no, that last one didn't really count) while he's doing said-charge. No more being rendered unconscious and being brought back up by Resurrection _twice_ (because when you go from fully healed to almost-death, being brought back _hurts_, darn it). No more being knocked out _just as he's going to use his Corporeal attack_ (ack, he'd only needed five more seconds!). And the best of all: No more fighting insanely powerful dragons for some stupid bracelet.

**EVER**. **AGAIN**.

"Jiro?"

If anything would yank him back from the edge of almost-insanity - which, really, if he doesn't eat or sleep within the next three hours, it will no longer "almost" - it would be Kluke's voice. "Hi, Kluke." He sidles over on the rock in silent invitation.

She accepts, sitting gingerly next to him. Kluke is unable to hide her wince, and Jiro realizes that she must be hiding injuries. Unfortunately, no one else is available to heal her - Shu is out cold back at camp, sleep having claimed him the instant they clambered out of the mechat; neither Marumaro nor Zola have much experience with White Magic, and attempting to cast a spell they're unfamiliar with when they have so little energy could have dangerous results; if Kluke tried to do it herself, not only would she probably be unable to heal her injury, she'd probably make it worse - and Jiro is afraid that if he tries to do it like this, he might just kill himself. Or her, which would be far more terrible. Or both of them, which would be worse than... something he can't remember. He's too tired to even follow his own passing musings. He's snapped out of his circling thoughts when Kluke speaks again. "Quite a day, huh?"

"Not counting Shu's Shadow, if I never see a dragon again," he forces out wearily, "it'll be way too soon."

"I second that." Kluke laughs, and Jiro finally starts to feel a little better. "We should just take it easy for a few days. Get our strength back and everything."

They don't really have the time - saving the world, here - but right now, that sounds like one of the best things Jiro has ever heard. Still... "We have to keep going, though."

Kluke waves a dismissive hand. "If we don't rest for at least one day, we'll keel over before we're able to help anyone. I know you prefer working, but taking a break every once in a while isn't such a bad thing." She grins, places a hand on his arm, and even through the cloth, his skin tingles at the contact. "We should sit and talk like this more often. And watch the sunset." She stares forward, nods toward the setting sun painting the sky in yellows and oranges and pinks. Her expression softens. "... It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes." Jiro smiles softly as he looks at Kluke, not paying the sky even the slightest attention. "It is."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Green - Leaf<strong>_

~.~.~.

In the peace of the early morning, he hears the noise. As he steps out of the inn, amidst the rustling trees and chirping birds and flowing water that runs through the entirety of Alumaru Village, that sound reaches his ears. It peaks his insatiable curiosity, as most things do, and so he begins walking in the direction it seems to be coming from in the hopes of finding the source.

When he finally discovers the cause of the sound, Jiro finds out that it's not something, but someone. And he wonders why he didn't recognize it.

She sits on the edge of one of the wooden walkways, her feet dangling just inches above the water. She has a leaf pressed to her lips, and by blowing just the right way, is making it emit a high-pitched but sweet-sounding noise.

Jiro grins. "A reed flute," Kluke jumps as he speaks, inadvertently ceases her song. "I haven't heard that in ages."

She glances at him bashfully. "Well, Shu's always been the best at it, but... I just missed hearing the sound of it." Kluke giggles nervously, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side. "I didn't sound too terrible, did I?"

"You sounded great." He seats himself next to her, leaning back on his hands; the wood is warm against his palm and fingers, having had the sun shining down on it for a few hours. Jiro shoots a rueful gaze her way. "You know, I didn't realize how much I missed hearing that until just now." He sighs, turning his eyes skyward. "We used to have so much fun back then..."

When he looks back at Kluke again, she's staring at him thoughtfully. Before he has a chance to ask what she's thinking about, she's thrusting the leaf at him and saying, "Here. You try it. You're better at it than me, anyway."

"U-um..." Jiro shrinks back from the leaf, feels his cheek get hot. When they were little, they'd always used separate leaves. _T-to do that... when Kluke had been... that would mean..._

Indirect kiss.

Jiro swallows hard.

"Come on, Jiro," Kluke grins at him brightly. Jiro feels like he's going to melt into a puddle. At least if he does, though, he'll be the happiest puddle on the face of the earth. "I want to hear you play it!"

Willing himself not to pass out (or melt), he gives a small nod and takes the leaf from her. He spends a second or two staring at it. And then he presses it against his mouth.

Jiro knows that he doesn't imagine the shiver that runs up and down his spine.

The notes he plays are a relaxed mixture of a few different festival songs from Talta, never really deciding on one in particular. For a few minutes, he gets lost in the music...

When he opens his eyes again (unaware until that moment that he'd closed them), he sees Kluke, her own eyes shut, head resting on her palm, and her expression the most peaceful he's seen it in years. Jiro feels warmth spread through his chest, and wishes that he could freeze this moment in time. If it would make her happy, Jiro would play the reed pipe for her forever.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Blue - Teardrop<strong>_

~.~.~.

She fiddles with the rings adorning her pinky fingers, watches as the jewels shine despite the lack of light. Her good luck charms. The things that saved her life - saved her soul, because even if _he_ didn't actually kill her, without these, she knows she would have died inside. She fingers the inscriptions on each.

On the right. _"I'll always be by your side. You can always confide in me."_

And on the left._ "Cheer up, Kluke! I'll always be there to protect you!"_

Jiro.

And Shu.

A sob tears out of Kluke's throat. _I was supposed to protect you, too. Jiro and I have always watched over you, and now... Now it's come to this. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

He's doing it. He's doing it _again_. Nene. Monster, murderer, _demon_. Killing the people she cares about. Taking away a piece of her at a time, one for each person.

"_I shall take away everything you care about, until you have nothing left. I will make your two precious little boys scream and scream and _scream_, and you will hear each and every tormented cry-"_

Kluke shrieks at the pain of the memory, shoves her hands against her ears as if she could block out the sound of _his_ voice. Her nails dig into her scalp, and she wishes she could tear the nightmares out of her mind.

Except it wouldn't help. Not now. Now that her waking world has become a nightmare itself.

It's been three days. Three horrible, agonizing days of waiting by his bedside (and then of finally, today, running out of the house because she couldn't hold in her tears anymore). If she still thinks Shu will wake up, Kluke is only fooling herself.

She feels wet drops plip-plop onto the tops of her knees, roll off the roundness of her legs and into the dirt where she crouches. She's been crying so much and so long, for so many people, that she's starting to forget what it feels like to not cry at least once a day. So much sadness inside... Kluke wonders if these endless tears will ever stop.

And then there's a hand on her shoulder. So soft. So steady. So gentle.

"_I'll always be by your side..."_

"J... Jiro..." Kluke turns slightly, so she's facing him halfway, lifts her head to look at him - (her) Jiro, as calm and sure as always, only his eyes betraying the melancholy that they both share (_Shu, I failed, I'm sorry, forgive me, don't ever forgive me, Shu_). Normally, she would be mortified that Jiro has seen her weeping. She hates crying in front of people, has always hated it, even before she knew what it was like to cry so hard that she didn't know if she could stop. But right now, she's drowning in too much misery to care.

And she's just so tired of being sad all alone.

Jiro crouches down beside her, his hand never leaving her shoulder. Another hand goes to her other side, and he brings her close in an embrace. "Tears can ease your sorrow," his whisper brushes her ear warmly, speaking those words from weeks ago, from forever ago, "so go ahead and cry as much as you want."

Clutching his tunic, she lets out a sob against his chest. But it doesn't hurt as much as it did before.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Purple - Triangle<strong>_

~.~.~.

_She's over by the well, with her mother and Minera. The sunlight glints on her brown hair, making it shine. Her eyes are alight, dancing with happiness as she chats with the other women collecting water. Someone says something that makes her laugh, and the sound is like the tinkling of bells, carried to him on the gentle wind, as gentle as her heart... _

"...and I think if we try lowering the heat before we mix the blue one and the red one, then maybe it won't explode this time. Don't you think so, Jiro?" Shu pauses, cranes his neck to look up at the older boy. "... Jiro?"

Distantly, Jiro feels someone tug on his sweater. He doesn't know what they're saying, but really doesn't want to look away from _her_, so he goes with what he assumes is a safe bet and lets out a noncommittal, "Mm."

"_Jiro_." Shu grits his teeth, thoroughly annoyed. "Can you at least _try_ to focus? The school project is due in three days. If we screw up like last year, your mom and Fana are going to _kill_ us, and I don't mean maybe." No response. Shu's temper boils over. "Jiro,_ are you even listening to me_? !"

"H-huh?" Jiro spins around, blinking his eyes like he's been looking directly into a very bright light. _There is a sort of brightness about her..._ "Did you say something?" He feels heat creeping across his cheekbones and over the bridge of his nose.

But Shu already has his eyes shut, huffing in frustration as he runs a hand through his hair. "_What_ has gotten into you, Jiro? You've been acting so weird lately. I just don't-" He breaks off as he opens his eyes and actually _looks_ at Jiro for the first time since he began his tirade. "Jiro, your face is all red." He slips the hand that had been on top of his head down just beneath his hairline, uses the other to feel Jiro's own forehead. "Are you feeling sick?"

Jiro blushes further, quickly pulling back and shaking his hard side to side; each shake is hard enough to cause those stubborn locks of hair to flail back and forth. "N-no, Shu, I'm fine. I-it's nothing." He stills his movements, but Shu still looks unconvinced. "Really! I... just have a lot on my mind these days." He turns away, embarrassed - and then catches sight of _her_ again. His flush deepens for the second time as he holds his hands tightly over his chest, as if he could hold in all of his threatening-to-overflow feelings.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't explain a whole lot. You always have a lot on your mind. You wouldn't be Jiro otherwise." Shu momentarily snorts at the absurdity of Jiro not thinking about more than one thing at a time. "It's never been a problem before. It's been who you _are_."

Even as his mind races at the thoughts of _her_, Jiro has to take a moment to smile, warmed by Shu's words. _There's a reason Shu's my best friend. What would I do without him?_ He startles from his thoughts. Where had that come from? There's no reason for him to have thought something like that, even in passing. After all, it's not like he's going to lose Shu or anything-

"You know," Shu's voice has gone very soft, and he sounds more thoughtful than Jiro has ever heard him before, "I never thought about it before, but... Kluke is kinda... pretty..."

And suddenly, it feels like the world is falling out from underneath Jiro's feet.

_No, Shu... Anything but that..._

"Gah! Why did I say something like that? ! Jiro, why did you have to act so strange? Your weirdness is rubbing off on me!" Shu pauses in his flailing. "Jiro?" And then he's worriedly grabbing the elder by the arm. "H-hey, Jiro, your face is all pale!"

Jiro manages to just barely whisper through his constricted throat, "I'm fine, Shu. Don't worry about it."

Shu lets go of him reluctantly. "But-"

"I'm _fine_." Jiro hopes that will be the end of it - but he should really know better by now, he thinks, since when does Shu ever let anything alone?

"Well, I'm going to get Kluke anyway. You've been acting funny all day. She should at least take a look at you." Without even giving Jiro a chance to argue the subject, Shu rushes off towards the well.

He wants to, but Jiro can't tear his eyes away as Shu approaches Kluke. Her smile widens and warms, practically radiant with happiness as she catches sight of him, and he takes her hand, his expression subtly lit with care and trust, and _God, why didn't he see it sooner?_

Jiro has no illusions about just how substantial this revelation about Shu is (and Kluke, for that matter; now that Jiro sees it in Shu, he can see it in her). He is also very aware that there are only so many ways that this situation will be resolved - and just about all of the ways end painfully for at least one of them, if not two or all three.

Somehow, during his internal debating, he's ended up sitting on a nearby rock, but he has no recollection of how he got there. Even if the lapse in memory is bad, it's good that he at least managed to sit down - by this point, his knees probably would have buckled and sent him sprawling on the ground.

Shu and Kluke... Those two are so important to him. He can already see how this new development will threaten to tear them apart. How would he get by without either of them?

It's one of few questions that he doesn't have an answer to.

* * *

><p><em><strong>White - Star<strong>_

~.~.~.

Kluke is never really sure how it happens.

One moment, they're talking about little things in passing, nothing really all that important, and staring up at the starry sky.

And in the next, Jiro is kissing her.

She freezes, becomes rigid at the contact, too stunned to even know how to respond. A million thoughts race through her mind, but once they've run their course, Kluke distantly finds herself surprised by the only one that's left.

_His lips are softer than I thought they'd be._

Under most circumstances, she would never admit to herself (never mind anyone else) that she's thought about kissing him. But there's not much point in denying it when it's happening right in front of her.

She's confused, though. (Or she thinks she is, anyway. She's so uncertain of herself right now that she really doesn't know anymore.) She's feeling so many things at once, and isn't even sure if she should be allowed to feel any of them yet. She doesn't understand why he has done this, even though he's agreed (twice) to wait for her answer. And there's still Shu to consider, and what will he think about this?

By the time she realizes that she still hasn't done anything but breathe since he initiated the kiss, Jiro is already pulling away.

She parts her mouth in preparation to say his name, opens her eyes to look at him-

Kluke goes utterly still.

Tears. His face is streaming with tears. And Jiro looks more broken than anyone she's seen in all of her sixteen and a half years.

"Jiro-"

He turns and runs into the night.

... It's very quiet with him gone, and Kluke thinks her pounding heart sounds very loud in the silence.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(Extra - Writer's Choice) Gray - Moon<strong>_

~.~.~.

Jiro lets out a sigh, feeling more at peace than he has for the last five days.

Ever since the Atomic Cube, he's felt better when the moon is full. He always feels more at ease now when he looks at it, even though he's come to know that it isn't exactly "real". (Perhaps it's the principle of the thing.) All he has to do is see it, and he'll feel... whole. Complete.

But ever since that night, five days ago, whenever he sees the stars... Something deep inside just _aches_, and even the moon can't soothe him then.

He scrunches his eyes shut. Such a fool! What had he been thinking? He said he would wait, hadn't he? Didn't Kluke's (and Shu's) feelings matter at all? How could he do something so terrible?

Only, it hadn't felt very terrible. And that's what made it worse. He had felt how unmoving Kluke had become - surely a sign of how much she must hate him now - and yet he still felt elation at pressing his lips against hers.

He pressed a hand against his abdomen, feeling sick with himself. _I'm a horrible person._ Kluke meant the world to him. And he had treated her like _that_...

Jiro had avoided all places he knew she would be. Not being in contact with her or not even seeing her was the worst way he could think to punish himself for what he'd done. And it's worked - without Kluke around, it feels like a piece of him is missing, and the absence _hurts_.

_It's alright, though. This is what I deserve._

"You're a hard person to find when you're avoiding people."

Jiro whirls around. _No, no, no, no-!_

Kluke stands behind him, beautiful as ever. The moonlight makes her look almost ethereal.

_She wasn't supposed to find me. I made a mistake somewhere. This isn't right. I miscalculated._ Jiro feels like he's about to jump out of his skin. How could this have happened? He was supposed to make himself pay for what he'd done, but now-

_That's okay. Change of plans._ He stands, stares at his feet as his eyes burn. Jiro is certain that Kluke despises him now, and she should have the right to let him know just how much she can't stand him. Perhaps he'll feel like he's dying, but he owes Kluke that chance. His breath hitches as he catches sight of her shoes coming to a stop spare inches from his own, and he tries to prepare himself for the onslaught of hatred that he must be about to hear-

Hands grab his tunic, yank him towards her, and then Kluke roughly shoves her lips against.

Jiro gasps into her mouth, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. This can't be happening. It's too... surreal. But he shivers all the way down to his toes when a tooth grazes his bottom lip - accident or on purpose, he isn't sure - and the slight sting confirms for him that this is real, even if it doesn't make sense (story of his life, really).

She pulls away, and Jiro looks at her dazedly. "K-Kluke-"

"That," she informs him rather breathlessly, "was for running away from me the other night."

"B-but- but- _why_?"

"Shu and I have been looking all over for you." He doesn't understand what that has to do with anything until she adds, "I needed to tell you something. I needed to tell _both_ of you something."

"... Oh." His voice sounds very small, even to his own ears.

Kluke snorts. "After everything that's happened, and all he can say is 'oh'."

"Sorry. I just..." Jiro fumbles for words, not even sure what he wants to say. Not even sure which _thing_ he wants to say. There are so many things he'd like to tell her...

"Don't." She places a hand on his cheek, giving him a gentle look. He leans against her subconsciously. "You don't have to say anything. But I do have something I want to tell you." She moves closer to him, leaving their mouths only centimeters apart. "This one," he feels every word as an exhalation against his skin, "is for what you did to make you run." And she closes the distance between them.

This kiss is not as rough, and is far sweeter; Jiro lets out another gasp at first, but then he sinks into it, wanting to lose himself completely in the sensation. But he needs to do something first.

He separates from her, holding her by the arms, and pushes the words out of his heaving chest. "I love you."

She jerks stiffly under his hands, and Jiro wonders if he's made a mistake again, if he's been wrong about all of it-

Kluke presses her forehead against his, and says the words he's been hoping to hear for so long. "I love you, too."

That persistent aching finally goes away, and he feels more complete, more whole, more _right_, than ever before.

He catches sight of something out of the corner of his eyes, and Jiro smiles as he discovers the answer to an unasked question.

_Even when unseen, always in the sky, side by side._

**And it's done! :D I thought that "Moon" was rather sloppy compared to what I had planned, but I think that it turned out all right in the end. Overall, I'm very happy with how this turned out, and I hope the rest of you liked it, too. :)**

**If you can, please review and let me know what you think! :) After this, I will begin working on the next birthday present, and then I'll resume work on the current poll leader (**_**Yami no Himitsu**_**). Thanks for reading! And one last thing:**

**Happy Birthday, Inita! :D**


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